This illustrator got a book deal lead on DAY ONE of Bologna… 😳 (part 2)

Here's part two of our Bologna interviews. Thank you so much for listening, and if you managed to come and find us at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, thank you. We had so much fun meeting everybody, and we’re hoping to do that again one day because it was cool. Okay, see you soon. Enjoy listening to these brave people

🚢🚢🚢

⏱️ Timestamps for our timestamp fans

Lauren

00:00 – Part 2 hiya
00:40 – Lauren: flew in from Chicago for her first Bologna
01:20 – Corporate job, layoff, creative reset
02:00 – Why she chose The Picture Book Course over a Masters in illustration
03:00 – Actually doing the work (not just watching 👀)
03:40 – Approaching a publisher…
04:20 – “Can you send me this book?” (!!!)
05:00 – Bravery > having it all figured out
05:40 – No agent, just going for it :) 

Yves

06:20 – Yves and his genius portfolio move
06:45 – Printing your portfolio as a book 📚
07:30 – How he uses it in reviews
08:00 – Printing panic
08:40 – New style feedback
09:10 – Feeling excited to create again (!!)
09:40 – “You just have to keep going” 

Links an' that wot we mentioned:

Yves Kervoelen on Instagram: @yveskervoelen/ 

Lauren Cox on Instagram: @kareuoneart/

Courses:

The Picture Book Course (the one Lauren mentioned)

Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag 

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Transcript

[00:00:00]

Here is part two of our Bologna interviews. Thank you so much for listening, and if you managed to come and find us at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, thank you. We had so much fun meeting everybody, and we’re hoping to do that again one day because it was cool. Okay, see you soon. Enjoy listening to these brave people.

Hello, I’m here with Lauren… actually, Lauren, what’s your surname again? I know it’s Cox. Yeah, this is not—again. Hello, I’m here with Lauren Cox, who is a Good Shipper who’s done the Picture Book Course, and we are super, super excited to meet you and hear more about—because this is your first time at Bologna, right?

Yes.

You live in Chicago. You’ve come over just for the fair?

Yes.

And yeah, we were speaking to your mum. We were trying to convince Lauren’s mum to come on here and your mum was having none of it. But we’ve got you. She’s here in spirit and ten feet away.

Yeah, she’s cheering you on.

Yeah. Because she was telling us about how you… maybe it’s helpful if you talk me through it… you had a job and then finding your way into Good Ship and things like that.

Yeah, so I had a job in corporate as a motion designer for the last five years. I worked for a Scottish company and then experienced a layoff, which kind of reset everything.

I do have a background in fine arts, so a lot of the stuff that I’ve done has been traditional media, and I was always trying to wiggle in as much illustration as I could into all of the corporate stuff that happens in the world.

And then I, as the kids say, had a bit of a crash out, as most would do, and then found you guys… found Good Ship and joined during the live course of the Picture Book Course.

Can you remember how you found us?

Honestly, I have been stalking you guys for a little bit.

We love that.

Yeah, of course. Absolutely. But no, I found you guys through an illustration page on Instagram, and then I took a bit of a break from Instagram and still found you guys again. Came back, saw your website, saw the Picture Book Course being offered.

And that was during a time when I was looking at Master’s programmes like the Cambridge School of Art and a couple of American-based programmes, and I didn’t think I wanted to do a Master’s.

Yeah, it’s a big time and money investment.

It’s a lot. So I figured I could do an online course, and I ended up really loving what you guys had offered, your expertise, and how many years you’ve been in the field.

That’s so good, because your mum was saying she’d seen you feeling sad and searching and feeling sadder, and then you found the courses. But the thing I was saying was yes, you’ve had incredible success, but you actually did the things.

Yeah.

Because we can tell people until we’re blue in the face, but not everybody takes action. And from what your mum was saying, you were really diligent and just worked through the course and implemented everything.

Yeah.

So well done.

Thank you.

But we’re at Bologna, of course. What happened yesterday?

Saw Good Ship, came up, said hello, and then we went around the fair. It was mad. There were so many people. We met so many amazing, talented individuals such as yourselves.

Then we ended up in one of the halls, and because I’ve been working with a Greek author on a picture book alongside the course, we went to the Greek pavilion and got connected with someone there who pointed us to a nearby publisher stand.

So we popped in, said hello, got sat down, and I had my dummy book with me. She looked at it and said, “Hey, I love this. Let’s talk more.”

So we exchanged contacts, and she said, “Please send me this book.”

And it’s surreal. It’s like… you ask the right questions, you make connections, and you can’t be afraid. That’s what yesterday was. And then we went home and took a nap.

Quite right.

But that’s incredible.

Yeah, so they’ve asked for the book and they’re going to be in touch. It sounds like it might be a thing.

A thing!

Because when you first told us, I said, “Oh yeah, cool,” and then Helen was like, “No, they took her book, that’s a big deal.” And I was like, oh my God, I didn’t even realise.

And my card and everything—we got connected. And I spoke to the author later, who is based in Athens, and she was like, “Yes, I know who that is.”

So is she really excited as well?

She’s really excited.

Amazing. Well, we’ll be keeping an eye out. You need to keep us posted.

I will, I promise. It’s only day two of the fair, not even halfway through, so who knows what will happen next.

Oh my God.

But it’s been wonderful. Even as someone without an agent, I kind of went in on faith and love and pixie dust, and connecting with Good Ship and people doing the course has just been fantastic.

Yeah, it’s so nice meeting coursemates in person, isn’t it? Online is great, but it’s not the same as seeing a human and going, “Oh, this is your actual career.”

Exactly. Yeah, you’re doing it.

Look at you go.

So there’s a wave of people—no pun intended—a host of shipmates.

Oh hi!

Well, thank you so much Lauren. What’s your plan for the rest of today?

Trying to figure out if we can join a workshop to break up the day a bit, and then seeing who else we can talk to and connect with. The American literary scene is a bit spread out, so we’re just seeing who’s around.

That’s the best way. Float around, soak it up.

Yeah, exactly.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

I’m here with Yves.

Hi.

Hi. And the reason I wanted to speak to Yves is because he has this incredible portfolio and I have questions.

Okay.

So, my first question: it’s a printed book with your work inside it, which is genius because we’re at a children’s book fair. Makes sense to give people a children’s book copy of your work.

How many copies did you have printed?

I printed five. And then they gave me another one, so I had six.

I feel extra honoured because you left one at our stand. I thought you must have had hundreds—how are you carrying them?

No, I don’t have a hundred because they’re quite heavy. I was thinking, if I carry them all around and don’t give them away, that would be a problem. So I have to give them today.

Yes, you can get rid of them.

So how does it work? Are you doing portfolio reviews and just handing it over?

Yes. I have this one with an envelope at the beginning where I put the cards I’m given, from illustrators and editors, so I can sort them later.

And then at the end I have two more envelopes where I keep my own cards, so I can give them out after the talk.

Amazing. I love the little cards.

People keep complimenting it, and I keep telling them it’s quite simple. The main challenge was just getting it printed on time.

Yes.

I had so many scares about it not arriving in time.

The printing always takes longer than you think.

Exactly. In the UK there was a bank holiday right when it needed printing.

Same in Germany.

And I forgot about it, so I sent it off and then realised… and thought, oh my God. It was meant to arrive Thursday, maybe Friday, and I was travelling Saturday morning.

No stress.

But it did arrive the day before.

They were really good this year.

Yes, very organised.

I think they know me now, so they’re like, “It’s him again, we’d better get it right.”

And how has it been received?

It’s a whole new style I’ve been developing since last year, especially this year. There’s still a lot to explore, but I’ve had lots of lovely comments.

People are saying, “Keep going.” Last year I had a completely different digital style, and this is all analogue.

People are saying this feels right for children’s books. The colours, everything—it’s stronger. So I’m mixing things, and I can’t wait to get home and sit down with my pens again.

That’s a good sign.

Yes. Usually I go home exhausted and unsure what to do next, but this year I feel like I’ve learned something. I know what I want to do. I just need to keep going.

You’ve got to do the things.

Yes. It’s not easy, but that’s why we’re here.

Exactly. Half the battle is just continuing and trying things.

Incredible. Thank you so much for sharing.

Thank you for having me.

Brilliant. Thank you, Yves.

Thank you.